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TORONTO 


0 

'iw 


CHITRA 


RABINDRANATH  TAGOHE 


Vonic 
THE  MACMILLAN 

1916 
L  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


COPYRIGHT,  1914 
Bv  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotypcd.    Published,  February,  1914. 
Reprinted.  March,  twice,  June,  1914;  October,    I'.Ml. 
February,  June,  1915;  March,  1916. 
Bolpur  Edition,  October.  1916. 


TO 
MRS.  WILLIAM  VAUGHN  MOODY 


PREFACE 

THIS  lyrical  drama  was  written  about 
twenty-five  years  ago.  It  is  based  on 
the  following  story  from  the  Mahab- 
harata. 

In  the  course  of  his  wanderings,  in 
fulfilment  of  a  vow  of  penance,  Arjuna 
came  to  Manipur.  There  he  saw 
Chitrangada,  the  beautiful  daughter  of 
Chitravahana,  the  king  of  the  country. 
Smitten  with  her  charms,  he  asked  the 
king  for  the  hand  of  his  daughter  in 
marriage.  Chitravahana  asked  him 
who  he  was,  and  learning  that  he  was 
Arjuna  the  Pandara,  told  him  that 
Prabhanjana,  one  of  his  ancestors  in 
the  kingly  line  of  Manipur,  had  long 
been  childless.  In  order  to  obtain  an 
heir,  he  performed  severe  penances. 
Pleased  with  these  austerities,  the  god 
7 


8  PREFACE 

Shiva  gave  him  this  boon,  that  he  and 
his  successors  should  each  have  one 
child.  It  so  happened  that  the  prom- 
ised child  had  invariably  been  a  son. 
He,  Chitravahana,  was  the  first  to 
have  only  a  daughter  Chitrangada  to 
perpetuate  the  race.  He  had,  there- 
fore, always  treated  her  as  a  son  and 
had  made  her  his  heir.  Continuing, 
the  king  said: 

"The  one  son  that  will  be  born  to 
her  must  be  the  perpetuator  of  my 
race.  That  son  will  be  the  price  that 
I  shall  demand  for  this  marriage.  You 
can  take  her,  if  you  like,  on  this  con- 
dition." 

Arjuna  promised  and  took  Chitran- 
gada to  wife,  and  lived  in  her  father's 
capital  for  three  years.  When  a  son 
was  born  to  them,  he  embraced  her 
with  affection,  and  taking  leave  of 
her  and  her  father,  set  out  again  on 
his  travels. 


THE  CHARACTERS 

GODS: 

MAD  ANA  (Eros). 
VASANTA  (Lycoris). 

MORTALS: 

CHITRA,  daughter  of  the  King  of 
Manipur. 

ARJUNA,  a  prince  of  the  house  of 
the  Kurus.  He  is  of  the  Ksha- 
triya  or  "warrior  caste,"  and 
during  the  action  is  living  as  a 
Hermit  retired  in  the  forest. 

VILLAGERS  from  an  outlying  district  of 
Manipur. 

NOTE. — The  dramatic  poem  "Chitra*'  has 
been  performed  in  India  without  scenery — 
the  actors  being  surrounded  by  the  audience. 
Proposals  for  its  production  here  having  been 
made  to  him,  he  went  through  this  translation 
and  provided  stage  directions,  but  wished 
these  omitted  if  it  were  printed  as  a  book. 
9 


SCENE  I 


SCENE  I 

* 

Chitra 

ART  them  the  god  with  the  five  darts, 
the  Lord  of  Love? 

Madana 

I  am  he  who  was  the  first  born  in  the 
heart  of  the  Creator.  I  bind  in  bonds 
of  pain  and  bliss  the  lives  of  men  and 
women ! 

Chitra 

I  know,  I  know  what  that  pain  is 
and  those  bonds. — And  who  art  thou, 
my  lord? 

Vasanta 

I  am  his  friend — Vasanta — the  King 
of  the  Seasons.    Death  and  decrepitude 
would  wear  the  world  to  the  bone  but 
13 


14  CHITRA 

that  I  follow  them  and  constantly  at- 
tack them.    I  am  Eternal  Youth. 

Chitra 
I  bow  to  thee,  Lord  Vasanta. 

Madana 

But  what  stern  vow  is  thine,  fair 
stranger?  Why  dost  thou  wither  thy 
fresh  youth  with  penance  and  mortifi- 
cation? Such  a  sacrifice  is  not  fit  for 
the  worship  of  love.  Who  art  thou 
and  what  is  thy  prayer? 

Chitra 

I  am  Chitra,  the  daughter  of  the 
kingly  house  of  Manipur.  With  god- 
like grace  Lord  Shiva  promised  to  my 
royal  grandsire  an  unbroken  line  of 
male  descent.  Nevertheless,  the  di- 
vine word  proved  powerless  to  change 
the  spark  of  life  in  my  mother's  womb 
— so  invincible  was  my  nature,  woman 
though  I  be. 


CHITRA  15 

Madana 

I  know,  that  is  why  thy  father  brings 
thee  up  as  his  son.  He  has  taught  thee 
the  use  of  the  bow  and  all  the  duties 
of  a  king. 

Chitra 

Yes,  that  is  why  I  am  dressed  in 
man's  attire  and  have  left  the  seclusion 
of  a  woman's  chamber.  I  know  no 
feminine  wiles  for  winning  hearts.  My 
hands  are  strong  to  bend  the  bow,  but 
I  have  never  learnt  Cupid's  archery, 
the  play  of  eyes. 

Madana 

That  requires  no  schooling,  fair  one. 
The  eye  does  its  work  untaught,  and 
he  knows  how  well,  who  is  struck  in  the 
heart. 

Chitra 

One  day  in  search  of  game  I  roved 
alone  to  the  forest  on  the  bank  of  the 


16  CfflTRA 

Puma  river.  Tying  my  horse  to  a  tree 
trunk  I  entered  a  dense  thicket  on  the 
track  of  a  deer.  I  found  a  narrow 
sinuous  path  meandering  through  the 
dusk  of  the  entangled  boughs,  the 
foliage  vibrated  with  the  chirping  of 
crickets,  when  of  a  sudden  I  came  upon 
a  man  lying  on  a  bed  of  dried  leaves, 
across  my  path.  I  asked  him  haughtily 
to  move  aside,  but  he  heeded  not. 
Then  with  the  sharp  end  of  my  bow  I 
pricked  him  in  contempt.  Instantly 
he  leapt  up  with  straight,  tall  limbs, 
like  a  sudden  tongue  of  fire  from  a 
heap  of  ashes.  An  amused  smile  flick- 
ered round  the  corners  of  his  mouth, 
perhaps  at  the  sight  of  my  boyish 
countenance.  Then  for  the  first  time 
in  my  life  I  felt  myself  a  woman,  and 
knew  that  a  man  was  before  me. 

Madana 

At  the  auspicious  hour  I  teach  the 
man  and  the  woman  this  supreme  les- 


CHITRA  17 

son  to  know  themselves.     What  hap- 
pened after  that? 

Chitra 

With  fear  and  wonder  I  asked  him 
"WTio  are  you?"  "I  am  Arjuna,"  he 
said,  "of  the  great  Kuru  clan."  I  stood 
petrified  like  a  statue,  and  forgot  to  do 
him  obeisance.  Was  this  indeed  Ar- 
juna, the  one  great  idol  of  my  dreams! 
Yes,  I  had  long  ago  heard  how  he  had 
vowed  a  twelve-years'  celibacy.  Many 
a  day  my  young  ambition  had  spurred 
me  on  to  break  my  lance  with  him,  to 
challenge  him  in  disguise  to  single  com- 
bat, and  prove'  my  skill  in  arms  against 
him.  Ah,  foolish  heart,  whither  fled 
thy  presumption?  Could  I  but  ex- 
change my  youth  with  all  its  aspira- 
tions for  the  clod  of  earth  under  his 
feet,  I  should  deem  it  a  most  precious 
grace.  I  know  not  in  what  whirlpool 
of  thought  I  was  lost,  when  suddenly 
I  saw  him  vanish  through  the  trees. 


18  CHITRA 

O  foolish  woman,  neither  didst  thou 
greet  him,  nor  speak  a  word,  nor  beg 
forgiveness,  but  stoodest  like  a  bar- 
barian boor  while  he  contemptuously 
walked  away!  .  .  .  Next  morning  I 
laid  aside  my  man's  clothing.  I  donned 
bracelets,  anklets,  waist-chain,  and  a 
gown  of  purple  red  silk.  The  unaccus- 
tomed dress  clung  about  my  shrinking 
shame;  but  I  hastened  on  my  quest, 
and  found  Arjuna  in  the  forest  temple 
of  Shiva. 

Madana 

Tell  me  the  story  to  the  end.  I  am 
the  heart-born  god,  and  I  understand 
the  mystery  of  these  impulses. 

Chitra 

Only  vaguely  can  I  remember  what 
things  I  said,  and  what  answer  I  got. 
Do  not  ask  me  to  tell  you  all.  Shame 
fell  on  me  like  a  thunderbolt,  yet  could 


CHITRA  19 

not  break  me  to  pieces,  so  utterly  hard, 
so  like  a  man  am  I.  His  last  words  as 
I  walked  home  pricked  my  ears  like 
red  hot  needles.  "  I  have  taken  the  vow 
of  celibacy.  I  am  not  fit  to  be  thy 
husband!"  Oh,  the  vow  of  a  man! 
Surely  thou  knowest,  thou  god  of  love, 
that  unnumbered  saints  and  sages  have 
surrendered  the  merits  of  their  life-long 
penance  at  the  feet  of  a  woman.  I 
broke  my  bow  in  two  and  burnt  my 
arrows  in  the  fire.  I  hated  my  strong, 
lithe  arm,  scored  by  drawing  the  bow- 
string. O  Love,  god  Love,  thou  hast 
laid  low  in  the  dust  the  vain  pride  of 
my  manlike  strength;  and  all  my  man's 
training  lies  crushed  under  thy  feet. 
Now  teach  me  thy  lessons;  give  me  the 
power  of  the  weak  and  the  weapon  of 
the  unarmed  hand. 

Madaua 

I  will  be  thy  friend.    I  will  bring  the 
world-conquering  Arjuna  a  captive  be- 


20  CHITRA 

fore  thee,  to  accept  his  rebellion's  sen- 
tence at  thy  hand. 

Chitra 

Had  I  but  the  time  needed,  I  could 
win  his  heart  by  slow  degrees,  and  ask 
no  help  of  the  gods.  I  would  stand  by 
his  side  as  a  comrade,  drive  the  fierce 
horses  of  his  war-chariot,  attend  him 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  keep 
guard  at  night  at  the  entrance  of  his 
tent,  and  help  him  in  all  the  great  duties 
of  a  Kshatriya,  rescuing  the  weak, 
and  meting  out  justice  where  it  is  due. 
Surely  at  last  the  day  would  have  come 
for  him  to  look  at  me  and  wonder, 
"What  boy  is  this?  Has  one  of  my 
slaves  in  a  former  life  followed  me  like 
my  good  deeds  into  this?"  I  am  not 
the  woman  who  nourishes  her  despair 
in  lonely  silence,  feeding  it  with  nightly 
tears  and  covering  it  with  the  daily 
patient  smile,  a  widow  from  her  birth. 
The  flower  of  my  desire  shall  never 


CHITRA  21 

drop  into  the  dust  before  it  has  ripened 
to  fruit.  But  it  is  the  labour  of  a  life- 
time to  make  one's  true  self  known  and 
honoured.  Therefore  I  have  come  to 
thy  door,  thou  world-vanquishing  Love, 
and  thou,  Vasanta,  youthful  Lord  of 
the  Seasons,  take  from  my  young  body 
this  primal  injustice,  an  unattractive 
plainness.  For  a  single  day  make  me 
superbly  beautiful,  even  as  beautiful  as 
was  the  sudden  blooming  of  love  in  my 
heart.  Give  me  but  one  brief  day  of 
perfect  beauty,  and  I  will  answer  for 
the  days  that  follow. 

Madana 
Lady,  I  grant  thy  prayer. 

Vasanta 

Not  for  the  short  span  of  a  day,  but 
for  one  whole  year  the  charm  of  spring 
blossoms  shall  nestle  round  thy  limbs. 


SCENE  n 


SCENE  H 

Arjuna 

WAS  I  dreaming  or  was  what  I  saw 
by  the  lake  truly  there?  Sitting  on  the 
mossy  turf,  I  mused  over  bygone  years 
in  the  sloping  shadows  of  the  evening, 
when  slowly  there  came  out  from  the 
folding  darkness  of  foliage  an  appari- 
tion of  beauty  in  the  perfect  form  of  a 
woman,  and  stood  on  a  white  slab  of 
stone  at  the  water's  brink.  It  seemed 
that  the  heart  of  the  earth  must  heave 
in  joy  under  her  bare  white  feet.  Me- 
thought  the  vague  veilings  of  her  body 
should  melt  in  ecstasy  into  air  as  the 
golden  mist  of  dawn  melts  from  off  the 
snowy  peak  of  the  eastern  hill.  She 
bowed  herself  above  the  shining  mirror 
of  the  lake  and  saw  the  reflection  of 
her  face.  She  started  up  in  awe  and 
stood  still;  then  smiled,  and  with  a 
25 


26  CHITRA 

careless  sweep  of  her  left  arm  unloosed 
her  hair  and  let  it  trail  on  the  earth  at 
her  feet.  She  bared  her  bosom  and 
looked  at  her  arms,  so  flawlessly  mod- 
elled, and  instinct  with  an  exquisite 
caress.  Bending  her  head  she  saw  the 
sweet  blossoming  of  her  youth  and  the 
tender  bloom  and  blush  of  her  skin. 
She  beamed  with  a  glad  surprise.  So, 
if  the  white  lotus  bud  on  opening  her 
eyes  in  the  morning  were  to  arch  her 
neck  and  see  her  shadow  in  the  water, 
would  she  wonder  at  herself  the  live- 
long day.  But  a  moment  after  the 
smile  passed  from  her  face  and  a  shade 
of  sadness  crept  into  her  eyes.  She 
bound  up  her  tresses,  drew  her  veil 
over  her  arms,  and  sighing  slowly, 
walked  away  like  a  beauteous  evening 
fading  into  the  night.  To  me  the 
supreme  fulfilment  of  desire  seemed  to 
have  been  revealed  in  a  flash  and  then 
to  have  vanished.  .  .  .  But  who  is  it 
that  pushes  the  door? 


CHITRA  27 

Enter  CHITRA,  dressed  as  a  woman. 

Ah!  it  is  she.    Quiet,  my  heart!  .  .  . 
Fear  me  not,  lady!    I  am  a  Kshatriya. 

Chitra 

Honoured  sir,  you  are  my  guest.  I 
live  in  this  temple.  I  know  not  in 
what  way  I  can  show  you  hospitality. 

Arjuna 

Fair  lady,  the  very  sight  of  you  is 
indeed  the  highest  hospitality.  If  you 
will  not  take  it  amiss  I  would  ask  you 
a  question. 

Chitra 
You  have  permission. 

Arjuna 

What  stern  vow  keeps  you  immured 
in  this  solitary  temple,  depriving  all 
mortals  of  a  vision  of  so  much  love- 
liness? 


28  CHITRA 

Chitra 

I  harbour  a  secret  desire  in  my  heart, 
for  the  fulfilment  of  which  I  offer 
daily  prayers  to  Lord  Shiva. 

Arjuna 

Alas,  what  can  you  desire,  you  who 
are  the  desire  of  the  whole  world! 
From  the  easternmost  hill  on  wrhose 
summit  the  morning  sun  first  prints 
his  fiery  foot  to  the  end  of  the  sunset 
land  have  I  travelled.  I  have  seen 
whatever  is  most  precious,  beautiful 
and  great  on  the  earth.  My  knowledge 
shall  be  yours,  only  say  for  what  or 
for  whom  you  seek. 

Chitra 
He  whom  I  seek  is  known  to  all. 

Arjuna 
Indeed!    Who  may  this  favourite  of 


CHITRA  29 

the  gods  be,  whose  fame  has  captured 
your  heart? 

Chitra 

Sprung  from  the  highest  of  all  royal 
houses,  the  greatest  of  all  heroes  is  he. 

Arjuna 

Lady,  offer  not  such  wealth  of  beauty 
as  is  yours  on  the  altar  of  false  reputa- 
tion. Spurious  fame  spreads  from 
tongue  to  tongue  like  the  fog  of  the 
early  dawn  before  the  sun  rises.  Tell 
me  who  in  the  highest  of  kingly  lines 
is  the  supreme  hero? 

Chitra 

Hermit,  you  are  jealous  of  other 
men's  fame.  Do  you  not  know  that 
all  over  the  world  the  royal  house  of 
the  Kurus  is  the  most  famous? 

Arjuna 
The  house  of  the  Kurus! 


30  CHITRA 

Chitra 

And  have  you  never  heard  of  the 
greatest  name  of  that  far-famed  house? 

Arjuna 
From  your  own  lips  let  me  hear  it. 

Chitra 

Arjuna,  the  conqueror  of  the  world. 
I  have  culled  from  the  mouths  of  the 
multitude  that  imperishable  name  and 
hidden  it  with  care  in  my  maiden  heart. 
Hermit,  why  do  you  look  perturbed? 
Has  that  name  only  a  deceitful  glitter? 
Say  so,  and  I  will  not  hesitate  to  break 
this  casket  of  my  heart  and  throw  the 
false  gem  to  the  dust. 

Arjuna 

Be  his  name  and  fame,  his  bravery 
and  prowess  false  or  true,  for  mercy's 
sake  do  not  banish  him  from  your 


CHITRA  31 

heart — for  lie  kneels  at  your  feet  even 
now. 

Chitra 

You,  Arjuna! 

Arjuna 

Yes,  I  am  he,  the  love-hungered 
guest  at  your  door. 

Chitra 

Then  it  is  not  true  that  Arjuna  has 
taken  a  vow  of  chastity  for  twelve 
long  years? 

Arjuna 

But  you  have  dissolved  my  vow 
even  as  the  moon  dissolves  the  night's 
vow  of  obscurity. 

Chitra 

Oh,  shame  upon  you!  What  have 
you  seen  in  me  that  makes  you  false 


32  CHITRA 

to  yourself?  Whom  do  you  seek  in 
these  dark  eyes,  in  these  milk-white 
arms,  if  you  are  ready  to  pay  for  her 
the  price  of  your  probity?  Not  my 
true  sen5,  I  know.  Surely  this  cannot 
be  love,  this  is  not  man's  highest 
homage  to  woman!  Alas,  that  this 
frail  disguise,  the  body,  should  make 
one  blind  to  the  light  of  the  deathless 
spirit!  Yes,  now  indeed,  I  know, 
Arjuna,  the  fame  of  your  heroic  man- 
hood is  false. 

Arjuna 

Ah,  I  feel  how  vain  is  fame,  the 
pride  of  prowess !  Everything  seems  to 
me  a  dream.  You  alone  are  perfect; 
you  are  the  wealth  of  the  world,  the 
end  of  all  poverty,  the  goal  of  all 
efforts,  the  one  woman!  Others  there 
are  who  can  be  but  slowly  known. 
While  to  see  you  for  a  moment  is  to 
see  perfect  completeness  once  and  for 
ever. 


CHITRA  33 

Chitra 

Alas,  it  is  not  I,  not  I,  Arjuna!  It 
is  the  deceit  of  a  god.  Go,  go,  my 
hero,  go.  Woo  not  falsehood,  offer 
not  your  great  heart  to  an  illusion. 
Go. 


SCENE  in 


SCENE  III 

Chitra 

No,  impossible.  To  face  that  fer- 
vent gaze  that  almost  grasps  you  like 
clutching  hands  .of  the  hungry  spirit 
within;  to  feel  his  heart  struggling  to 
break  its  bounds  urging  its  passionate 
cry  through  the  entire  body — and  then 
to  send  him  away  like  a  beggar — no, 
impossible. 

Enter  MADANA  and  VASANTA. 

Ah,  god  of  love,  what  fearful  flame  is 
this  with  which  thou  hast  enveloped 
me!  I  burn,  and  I  burn  whatever  I 
touch. 

Madana 

I  desire  to  know  what  happened 
last  night. 

37 


38  CHITRA 

Chitra 

At  evening  I  lay  down  on  a  grassy 
bed  strewn  with  the  petals  of  spring 
flowers,  and  recollected  the  wonderful 
praise  of  my  beauty  I  had  heard  from 
Arjuna; — drinking  drop  by  drop  the 
honey  that  I  had  stored  during  the 
long  day.  The  history  of  my  past 
life  like  that  of  my  former  existences 
was  forgotten.  I  felt  like  a  flower, 
which  has  but  a  few  fleeting  hours  to 
listen  to  all  the  humming  flatteries 
and  whispered  murmurs  of  the  wood- 
lands and  then  must  lower  its  eyes 
from  the  sky,  bend  its  head  and  at  a 
breath  give  itself  up  to  the  dust  with- 
out a  cry,  thus  ending  the  short  story 
of  a  perfect  moment  that  has  neither 
past  nor  future. 

Vasanta 

A  limitless  life  of  glory  can  bloom 
and  spend  itself  in  a  morning. 


CHITRA  39 

Madana 

Like  an  endless  meaning  in  the 
narrow  span  of  a  song. 

Chitra 

The  southern  breeze  caressed  me  to 
sleep.  From  the  flowering  Malati 
bower  overhead  silent  kisses  dropped 
over  my  body.  On  my  hair,  my 
breast,  my  feet,  each  flower  chose  a 
bed  to  die  on.  I  slept.  And,  sud- 
denly in  the  depth  of  my  sleep,  I  felt 
as  if  some  intense  eager  look,  like 
tapering  fingers  of  flame,  touched  my 
slumbering  body.  I  started  up  and 
saw  the  Hermit  standing  before  me. 
The  moon  had  moved  to  the  west, 
peering  through  the  leaves  to  espy 
this  wonder  of  divine  art  wrought  in 
a  fragile  human  frame.  The  air  was 
heavy  with  perfume;  the  silence  of 
the  night  was  vocal  with  the  chirping 
of  crickets;  the  reflections  of  the  trees 


40  CHITRA 

hung  motionless  in  the  lake;  and  with 
his  staff  in  his  hand  he  stood,  tall 
and  straight  and  still,  like  a  forest 
tree.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  had, 
on  opening  my  eyes,  died  to  all  reali- 
ties of  life  and  undergone  a  dream  birth 
into  a  shadow  land.  Shame  slipped 
to  my  feet  like  loosened  clothes.  I 
heard  his  call — "Beloved,  my  most 
beloved!"  And  all  my  forgotten  lives 
united  as  one  and  responded  to  it. 
I  said,  "Take  me,  take  all  I  am!" 
And  I  stretched  out  my  arms  to  him. 
The  moon  set  behind  the  trees.  One  cur- 
tain of  darkness  covered  all.  Heaven 
and  earth,  time  and  space,  pleasure  and 
pain,  death  and  life  merged  together  in 
an  unbearable  ecstasy.  .  .  .  With  the 
first  gleam  of  light,  the  first  twitter 
of  birds,  I  rose  up  and  sat  leaning  on 
my  left  arm.  He  lay  asleep  with  a 
vague  smile  about  his  lips  like  the 
crescent  moon  in  the  morning.  The 
rosy  red  glow  of  the  dawn  fell  upon 


CHITRA  41 

his  noble  forehead.  I  sighed  and 
stood  up.  I  drew  together  the  leafy 
lianas  to  screen  the  streaming  sun 
from  his  face.  I  looked  about  me  and 
saw  the  same  old  earth.  I  remembered 
what  I  used  to  be,  and  ran  and  ran 
like  a  deer  afraid  of  her  own  shadow, 
through  the  forest  path  strewn  with 
shephali  flowers.  I  found  a  lonely 
nook,  and  sitting  down  covered  my 
face  with  both  hands,  and  tried  to 
weep  and  cry.  But  no  tears  came  to 
my  eyes. 

Madana 

Alas,  thou  daughter  of  mortals!  I 
stole  from  the  divine  storehouse  the 
fragrant  wine  of  heaven,  filled  with 
it  one  earthly  night  to  the  brim,  and 
placed  it  in  thy  hand  to  drink — yet 
still  I  hear  this  cry  of  anguish! 

Chitra  [bitterly] 

"Who  drank  it?  The  rarest  com- 
pletion of  life's  desire,  the  first  union 


42  CHITRA 

of  love  was  proffered  to  me,  but  was 
wrested  from  my  grasp?  This  bor- 
rowed beauty,  this  falsehood  that  en- 
wraps me,  will  slip  from  me  taking 
with  it  the  only  monument  of  that 
sweet  union,  as  the  petals  fall  from 
an  overblown  flower;  and  the  woman 
ashamed  of  her  naked  poverty  will 
sit  weeping  day  and  night.  Lord  Love, 
this  cursed  appearance  companions  me 
like  a  demon  robbing  me  of  all  the 
prizes  of  love — all  the  kisses  for  which 
my  heart  is  athirst. 

Madana 

Alas,  how  vain  thy  single  night  had 
been!  The  barque  of  joy  came  in 
sight,  but  the  waves  would  not  let  it 
touch  the  shore. 

Chitra 

Heaven  came  so  close  to  my  hand 
that  I  forgot  for  a  moment  that  it 


CHITRA  43 

had  not  reached  me.  But  when  I 
woke  in  the  morning  from  my  dream 
I  found  that  my  body  had  become  my 
own  rival.  It  is  my  hateful  task  to 
deck  her  every  day,  to  send  her  to  my 
beloved  and  see  her  caressed  by  him. 

0  god,  take  back  thy  boon! 

Madana 

But  if  I  take  it  from  you  how  can 
you  stand  before  your  lover?  To 
snatch  away  the  cup  from  his  lips 
when  he  has  scarcely  drained  his  first 
draught  of  pleasure,  would  not  that 
be  cruel?  With  what  resentful  anger 
he  must  regard  thee  then? 

Chitra 

That  would  be  better  far  than  this. 

1  will  reveal  my  true  self  to  him,  a 
nobler   thing   than   this   disguise.      If 
he  rejects  it,  if  he  spurns  me  and  breaks 
my  heart,  I  will  bear  even  that  in 
silence. 


44  CHITRA 

Vasanta 

Listen  to  my  advice.  When  with 
the  advent  of  autumn  the  flowering 
season  is  over  then  comes  the  triumph 
of  fruitage.  A  time  will  come  of  itself 
when  the  heat-cloyed  bloom  of  the 
body  will  droop  and  Arjuna  will  gladly 
accept  the  abiding  fruitful  truth  in 
thee.  O  child,  go  back  to  thy  mad 
festival. 


SCENE  IV 


SCENE  IV 

Chitra 

WHY  do  you  watch  me  like  that, 
my  warrior? 

Arjuna 

I  watch  how  you  weave  that  gar- 
land. Skill  and  grace,  the  twin  brother 
and  sister,  are  dancing  playfully  on 
your  ringer  tips.  I  am  watching  and 
thinking. 

Chitra 

What  are  you  thinking,  sir? 

Arjuna 

I  am  thinking  that  you,  with  this 
same  lightness  of  touch  and  sweetness, 
are  weaving  my  days  of  exile  into  an 
immortal  wreath,  to  crown  me  when 
I  return  home. 

47 


48  CHITRA 

Chitra 

Home!  But  this  love  is  not  for  a 
home! 

Arjuna 

Not  for  a  home? 

Chitra 

No.  Never  talk  of  that.  Take  to 
your  home  what  is  abiding  and  strong. 
Leave  the  little  wild  flower  where  it 
was  born;  leave  it  beautifully  to  die 
at  the  day's  end  among  all  fading 
blossoms  and  decaying  leaves.  Do 
not  take  it  to  your  palace  hall  to  fling 
it  on  the  stony  floor  which  knows  no 
pity  for  things  that  fade  and  are 
forgotten. 

Arjuna 

Is  ours  that  kind  of  love? 

Chitra 

Yes,  no  other!  Why  regret  it?  That 
which  was  meant  for  idle  days  should 


CHITRA  49 

never  outlive  them.  Joy  turns  into 
pain  when  the  door  by  which  it  should 
depart  is  shut  against  it.  Take  it  and 
keep  it  as  long  as  it  lasts.  Let  not 
the  satiety  of  your  evening  claim 
more  than  the  desire  of  your  morning 
could  earn.  .  .  .  The  day  is  done. 
Put  this  garland  on.  I  am  tired. 
Take  me  in  your  arms,  my  love.  Let 
all  vain  bickerings  of  discontent  die 
away  at  the  sweet  meeting  of  our 
lips. 

Arjuna 

Hush!  Listen,  my  beloved,  the 
sound  of  prayer  bells  from  the  distant 
village  temple  steals  upon  the  evening 
air  across  the  silent  trees! 


SCENE  V 


SCENE  V 

Vasanta 

I  CANNOT  keep  pace  with  thee,  my 
friend!  I  am  tired.  It  is  a  hard  task 
to  keep  alive  the  fire  thou  hast  kindled. 
Sleep  overtakes  me,  the  fan  drops 
from  my  hand,  and  cold  ashes  cover 
the  glow  of  the  fire.  I  start  up  again 
from  my  slumber  and  with  all  my 
might  rescue  the  weary  flame.  But 
this  can  go  on  no  longer. 

Madana 

I  know,  thou  art  as  fickle  as  a  child. 
Ever  restless  is  thy  play  in  heaven 
and  on  earth.  Things  that  thou  for 
days  buildest  up  with  endless  detail 
thou  dost  shatter  in  a  moment  with- 
53 


54  CHITRA 

out  regret.  But  this  work  of  ours  is 
nearly  finished.  Pleasure-winged  days 
fly  fast,  and  the  year,  almost  at  its 
end,  swoons  in  rapturous  bliss. 


SCENE  VI 


SCENE  VI 

Arjuna 

I  WOKE  in  the  morning  and  found 
that  my  dreams  had  distilled  a  gem. 
I  have  no  casket  to  inclose  it,  no 
king's  crown  whereon  to  fix  it,  no 
chain  from  which  to  hang  it,  and  yet 
have  not  the  heart  to  throw  it  away. 
My  Kshatriya's  right  arm,  idly  occu- 
pied in  holding  it,  forgets  its  duties. 

Enter  CHITRA. 

Chitra 
Tell  me  your  thoughts,  sir! 

Arjuna 

My  mind  is  busy  with  thoughts  of 
hunting  to-day.  See,  how  the  rain 
pours  in  torrents  and  fiercely  beats 
upon  the  hillside.  The  dark  shadow 

57 


58  CHITRA 

of  the  clouds  hangs  heavily  over  the 
forest,  and  the  swollen  stream,  like 
reckless  youth,  overleaps  all  barriers 
with  mocking  laughter.  On  such  rainy 
days  we  five  brothers  would  go  to  the 
Chitraka  forest  to  chase  wild  beasts. 
Those  were  glad  times.  Our  hearts 
danced  to  the  drumbeat  of  rumbling 
clouds.  The  woods  resounded  with 
the  screams  of  peacocks.  Timid  deer 
could  not  hear  our  approaching  steps 
for  the  patter  of  rain  and  the  noise 
of  waterfalls;  the  leopards  would  leave 
their  tracks  on  the  wet  earth,  betray- 
ing their  lairs.  Our  sport  over,  we 
dared  each  other  to  swim  across  turbu- 
lent streams  on  our  way  back  home. 
The  restless  spirit  is  on  me.  I  long 
to  go  hunting. 

Chitra 

First  run  down  the  quarry  you  are 
now  following.  Are  you  quite  certain 
that  the  enchanted  deer  you  pursue 


CHITRA  59 

must  needs  be  caught?  No,  not  yet. 
Like  a  dream  the  wild  creature  eludes 
you  when  it  seems  most  nearly  yours. 
Look  how  the  wind  is  chased  by  the 
mad  rain  that  discharges  a  thousand 
arrows  after  it.  Yet  it  goes  free  and 
unconquered.  Our  sport  is  like  that, 
my  love!  You  give  chase  to  the 
fleet-footed  spirit  of  beauty,  aiming 
at  her  every  dart  you  have  in  your 
hands.  Yet  this  magic  deer  runs  ever 
free  and  untouched. 

Arjuna 

My  love,  have  you  no  home  where 
kind  hearts  are  waiting  for  your  re- 
turn? A  home  which  you  once  made 
sweet  with  your  gentle  service  and 
whose  light  went  out  when  you  left 
it  for  this  wilderness? 

Chitra 

Why  these  questions?  Are  the  hours 
of  unthinking  pleasure  over?  Do  you 


60  CHITRA 

not  know  that  I  am  no  more  than  what 
you  see  before  you?  For  me  there  is 
no  vista  beyond.  The  dew  that  hangs 
on  the  tip  of  a  Kinsuka  petal  has 
neither  name  nor  destination.  It  offers 
no  answer  to  any  question.  She  whom 
you  love  is  like  that  perfect  bead  of 
dew. 

Arjuna 

Has  she  no  tie  with  the  world? 
Can  she  be  merely  like  a  fragment  of 
heaven  dropped  on  the  earth  through 
the  carelessness  of  a  wanton  god? 

Chitra 
Yes. 

Arjuna 

Ah,  that  is  why  I  always  seem  about 
to  lose  you.  My  heart  is  unsatisfied, 
my  mind  knows  no  peace.  Come 
closer  to  me,  unattainable  one!  Sur- 
render yourself  to  the  bonds  of  name 
and  home  and  parentage.  Let  my 


CHITRA  61 

heart  feel  you  on  all  sides  and  live  with 
you  in  the  peaceful  security  of  love. 

Chitra 

Why  this  vain  effort  to  catch  and 
keep  the  tints  of  the  clouds,  the  dance 
of  the  waves,  the  smell  of  the  flowers? 


Arjuna 

Mistress  mine,  do  not  hope  to  pacify 
love  with  airy  nothings.  Give  me 
something  to  clasp,  something  that 
can  last  longer  than  pleasure,  that 
can  endure  even  through  suffering. 

Chitra 

Hero  mine,  the  year  is  not  yet  full, 
and  you  are  tired  already!  Now  I 
know  that  it  is  Heaven's  blessing  that 
has  made  the  flower's  term  of  life 
short.  Could  this  body  of  mine  have 
drooped  and  died  with  the  flowers  of 
last  spring  it  surely  would  have  died 


62  CHITRA 

with  honour.  Yet,  its  days  are  num- 
bered, my  love.  Spare  it  not,  press 
it  dry  of  honey,  for  fear  your  beggar's 
heart  come  back  to  it  again  and  again 
with  unsated  desire,  like  a  thirsty  bee 
when  summer  blossoms  lie  dead  in 
the  dust. 


SCENE  VII 


SCENE  VII 

Madana 
TO-NIGHT  is  thy  last  night. 

Vasanta 

The  loveliness  of  your  body  will 
return  to-morrow  to  the  inexhaustible 
stores  of  the  spring.  The  ruddy  tint 
of  thy  lips  freed  from  the  memory  of 
Arjuna's  kisses,  will  bud  anew  as  a 
pair  of  fresh  asoka  leaves,  and  the 
soft,  white  glow  of  thy  skin  will  be 
born  again  in  a  hundred  fragrant  jas- 
mine flowers. 

Chitra 

O  gods,  grant  me  this  my  prayer! 

To-night,  in  its  last  hour  let  my  beauty 
65 


66  CHITRA 

flash  its  brightest,  like  the  final  flicker 
of  a  dying  flame. 

Madana 
Thou  shalt  have  thy  wish. 


SCENE  VIII 


SCENE  VIII 

Villagers 
WHO  will  protect  us  now? 

Arjuna 

Why,  by  what  danger  are  you  threat- 
ened? 

Villagers 

The  robbers  are  pouring  from  the 
northern  hills  like  a  mountain  flood 
to  devastate  our  village. 

Arjuna 
Have  you  in  this  kingdom  no  warden? 

Villagers 

Princess   Chitra   was  the   terror   of 
all  evil  doers.     While  she  was  in  this 
69 


70  CHITRA 

happy  land  we  feared  natural  deaths, 
but  had  no  other  fears.  Now  she  has 
gone  on  a  pilgrimage,  and  none  knows 
where  to  find  her. 

Arjuna 

Is  the  warden  of  this  country  a 
woman? 

Villagers 

Yes,  she  is  our  father  and  mother 
in  one. 

[Exeunt. 
Enter  CHITRA. 

Chitra 
Why  are  you  sitting  all  alone? 

Arjuna 

I  am  trying  to  imagine  what  kind 
of  woman  Princess  Chitra  may  be.  I 
hear  so  many  stories  of  her  from  all 
sorts  of  men. 


CHITRA  71 

Chitra 

Ah,  but  she  is  not  beautiful.  She 
has  no  such  lovely  eyes  as  mine,  dark 
as  death.  She  can  pierce  any  target 
she  will,  but  not  our  hero's  heart. 

Arjuna 

They  say  that  in  valour  she  is  a 
man,  and  a  woman  in  tenderness. 

Chitra 

That,  indeed,  is  her  greatest  mis- 
fortune. When  a  woman  is  merely  a 
woman;  when  she  winds  herself  round 
and  round  men's  hearts  with  her  smiles 
and  sobs  and  services  and  caressing 
endearments;  then  she  is  happy.  Of 
what  use  to  her  are  learning  and  great 
achievements?  Could  you  have  seen 
her  only  yesterday  in  the  court  of  the 
Lord  Shiva's  temple  by  the  forest 
path,  you  would  have  passed  by  with- 
out deigning  to  look  at  her.  But  have 


72  CHITRA 

you  grown  so  weary  of  woman's  beauty 
that  you  seek  in  her  for  a  man's 
strength? 

With  green  leaves  wet  from  the  spray 
of  the  foaming  waterfall,  I  have  made 
our  noonday  bed  in  a  cavern  dark  as 
night.  There  the  cool  of  the  soft  green 
mosses  thick  on  the  black  and  drip- 
ping stone,  kisses  your  eyes  to  sleep. 
Let  me  guide  you  thither. 

Arjuna 
Not  to-day,  beloved. 

Ckitra 
Why  not  to-day? 

Arjuna 

I  have  heard  that  a  horde  of  robbers 
has  neared  the  plains.  Needs  must 
I  go  and  prepare  my  weapons  to  pro- 
tect the  frightened  villagers. 


CHITRA  73 

Chitra 

You  need  have  no  fear  for  them. 
Before  she  started  on  her  pilgrimage, 
Princess  Chitra  had  set  strong  guards 
at  all  the  frontier  passes. 

Arjuna 

Yet  permit  me  for  a  short  while  to 
set  about  a  Kshatriya's  work.  With 
new  glory  will  I  ennoble  this  idle  arm, 
and  make  of  it  a  pillow  more  worthy 
of  your  head. 

Chitra 

What  if  I  refuse  to  let  you  go,  if  I 
keep  you  entwined  in  my  arms?  Would 
you  rudely  snatch  yourself  free  and 
leave  me?  Go  then!  But  you  must 
know  that  the  liana,  once  broken  in 
two,  never  joins  again.  Go,  if  your 
thirst  is  quenched.  But,  if  not,  then 
remember  that  the  goddess  of  pleasure 
is  fickle,  and  waits  for  no  man.  Sit 


74  CHITRA 

for  a  while,  my  lord!  Tell  me  what 
uneasy  thoughts  tease  you.  Who  occu- 
pied your  mind  to-day?  Is  it  Chitra? 

Arjuna 

Yes,  it  is  Chitra.  I  wonder  in  ful- 
filment of  what  vow  she  has  gone  on 
her  pilgrimage.  Of  what  could  she 
stand  in  need? 

Chitra 

Her  needs?  Why,  what  has  she 
ever  had,  the  unfortunate  creature? 
Her  very  qualities  are  as  prison  walls, 
shutting  her  woman's  heart  in  a  bare 
cell.  She  is  obscured,  she  is  unful- 
filled. Her  womanly  love  must  con- 
tent itself  dressed  in  rags;  beauty  is 
denied  her.  She  is  like  the  spirit  of 
a  cheerless  morning,  sitting  upon  the 
stony  mountain  peak,  all  her  light 
blotted  out  by  dark  clouds.  Do  not 
ask  me  of  her  life.  It  will  never  sound 
sweet  to  man's  ear. 


CHITRA  75 

Arjuna 

I  am  eager  to  learn  all  about  her. 
I  am  like  a  traveller  come  to  a  strange 
city  at  midnight.  Domes  and  towers 
and  garden-trees  look  vague  and  shad- 
owy, and  the  dull  moan  of  the  sea 
comes  fitfully  through  the  silence  of 
sleep.  Wistfully  he  waits  for  the 
morning  to  reveal  to  him  all  the 
strange  wonders.  Oh,  tell  me  her 
story. 

Chitra 
What  more  is  there  to  tell? 

Arjuna 

I  seem  to  see  her,  in  my  mind's 
eye,  riding  on  a  white  horse,  proudly 
holding  the  reins  in  her  left  hand,  and 
in  her  right  a  bow,  and  like  the  God- 
dess of  Victory  dispensing  glad  hope 
all  round  her.  Like  a  watchful  lioness 
she  protects  the  litter  at  her  dugs 


76  CHITRA 

with  a  fierce  love.  Woman's  arms, 
though  adorned  with  naught  but  un- 
fettered strength,  are  beautiful!  My 
heart  is  restless,  fair  one,  like  a  serpent 
reviving  from  his  long  winter's  sleep. 
Come,  let  us  both  race  on  swift  horses 
side  by  side,  like  twin  orbs  of  light 
sweeping  through  space.  Out  from 
this  slumbrous  prison  of  green  gloom, 
this  dank,  dense  cover  of  perfumed 
intoxication,  choking  breath. 

Chitra 

Arjuna,  tell  me  true,  if,  now  at 
once,  by  some  magic  I  could  shake 
myself  free  from  this  voluptuous  soft- 
ness, this  timid  bloom  of  beauty  shrink- 
ing from  the  rude  and  healthy  touch 
of  the  world,  and  fling  it  from  my  body 
like  borrowed  clothes,  would  you  be 
able  to  bear  it?  If  I  stand  up  straight 
and  strong  with  the  strength  of  a 
daring  heart  spurning  the  wiles  and 
arts  of  twining  weakness,  if  I  hold 


CHITRA  77 

my  head  high  like  a  tall  young  moun- 
tain fir,  no  longer  trailing  in  the  dust 
like  a  liana,  shall  I  then  appeal  to 
man's  eye?  No,  no,  you  could  not 
endure  it.  It  is  better  that  I  should 
keep  spread  about  me  all  the  dainty 
playthings  of  fugitive  youth,  and  wait 
for  you  in  patience.  When  it  pleases 
you  to  return,  I  will  smilingly  pour 
out  for  you  the  wine  of  pleasure  in 
the  cup  of  this  beauteous  body.  When 
you  are  tired  and  satiated  with  this 
wine,  you  can  go  to  work  or  play; 
and  when  I  grow  old  I  will  accept 
humbly  and  gratefully  whatever  corner 
is  left  for  me.  Would  it  please  your 
heroic  soul  if  the  playmate  of  the 
night  aspired  to  be  the  helpmeet  of 
the  day,  if  the  left  arm  learnt  to  share 
the  burden  of  the  proud  right  arm. 

Arjuna 

I  never  seem  to  know  you  aright. 
You  seem  to  me  like  a  goddess  hidden 


78  CHITRA 

within  a  golden  image.  I  cannot  touch 
you,  I  cannot  pay  you  my  dues  in 
return  for  your  priceless  gifts.  Thus 
my  love  is  incomplete.  Sometimes  in 
the  enigmatic  depth  of  your  sad  look, 
in  your  playful  words  mocking  at 
their  own  meaning,  I  gain  glimpses 
of  a  being  trying  to  rend  asunder  the 
languorous  grace  of  her  body,  to  emerge 
in  a  chaste  fire  of  pain  through  a 
vaporous  veil  of  smiles.  Illusion  is  the 
first  appearance  of  Truth.  She  ad- 
vances towards  her  lover  in  disguise. 
But  a  time  comes  when  she  throws 
off  her  ornaments  and  veils  and  stands 
clothed  in  naked  dignity.  I  grope  for 
that  ultimate  you,  that  bare  simplicity 
of  truth. 

Why  these  tears,  my  love?  Why 
cover  your  face  with  your  hands? 
Have  I  pained  you,  my  darling?  For- 
get what  I  said.  I  will  be  content 
with  the  present.  Let  each  separate 
moment  of  beauty  come  to  me  like 


CHITRA  79 

a  bird  of  mystery  from  its  unseen 
nest  in  the  dark  bearing  a  message  of 
music.  Let  me  for  ever  sit  with  my 
hope  on  the  brink  of  its  realization, 
and  thus  end  my  days. 


SCENE  IX 


SCENE  IX 

CHITRA  and  ARJUNA 

Chitra  [cloaked] 

MY  lord,  has  the  cup  been  drained 
to  the  last  drop?  Is  this,  indeed, 
the  end?  No,  when  all  is  done  some- 
thing still  remains,  and  that  is  my 
last  sacrifice  at  your  feet. 

I  brought  from  the  garden  of  heaven 
flowers  of  incomparable  beauty  with 
which  to  worship  you,  god  of  my 
heart.  If  the  rites  are  over,  if  the 
flowers  have  faded,  let  me  throw  them 
out  of  the  temple  [unveiling  in  her 
original  male  attire].  Now,  look  at 
your  worshipper  with  gracious  eyes. 

I  am  not  beautifully  perfect  as  the 
flowers  with  which  I  worshipped.  I 
have  many. flaws  and  blemishes.  I  am 
83 


84  CHITRA 

a  traveller  in  the  great  world-path, 
my  garments  are  dirty,  and  my  feet 
are  bleeding  with  thorns.  Where  should 
I  achieve  flower-beauty,  the  unsullied 
loveliness  of  a  moment's  life?  The 
gift  that  I  proudly  bring  you  is  the 
heart  of  a  woman.  Here  have  all 
pains  and  joys  gathered,  the  hopes 
and  fears  and  shames  of  a  daughter 
of  the  dust;  here  love  springs  up  strug- 
gling toward  immortal  life.  Herein 
lies  an  imperfection  which  yet  is  noble 
and  grand.  If  the  flower-service  is 
finished,  my  master,  accept  this  as 
your  servant  for  the  days  to  come! 

I  am  Chitra,  the  king's  daughter. 
Perhaps  you  will  remember  the  day 
when  a  woman  came  to  you  in  the 
temple  of  Shiva,  her  body  loaded  with 
ornaments  and  finery.  That  shame- 
less woman  came  to  court  you  as 
though  she  were  a  man.  You  rejected 
her;  you  did  well.  My  lord,  I  am 
that  woman.  She  was  my  disguise. 


CHITRA  85 

Then  by  the  boon  of  gods  I  obtained 
for  a  year  the  most  radiant  form  that 
a  mortal  ever  wore,  and  wearied  my 
hero's  heart  with  the  burden  of  that 
deceit.  Most  surely  I  am  not  that 
woman. 

I  am  Chitra.  No  goddess  to  be 
worshipped,  nor  yet  the  object  of 
common  pity  to  be  brushed  aside  like 
a  moth  with  indifference.  If  you 
deign  to  keep  me  by  your  side  in  the 
path  of  danger  and  daring,  if  you 
allow  me  to  share  the  great  duties  of 
your  life,  then  you  will  know  my  true 
self.  If  your  babe,  whom  I  am  nourish- 
ing in  my  womb  be  born  a  son,  I  shall 
myself  teach  him  to  be  a  second  Arjuna, 
and  send  him  to  you  when  the  time 
comes,  and  then  at  last  you  will  truly 
know  me.  To-day  I  can  only  offer  you 
Chitra,  the  daughter  of  a  king. 

Arjuna 
Beloved,  my  life  is  full. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


' 


u:  fiftwfwai* 

JUNJ  9 


315 


A     000  058  224     7 


/     University 
Southe: 


